Retired Wall Street executive Jim Owen is now in the business of teaching fellow seniors best practices on how to stay fit and live younger.
An 83-year-old La Jollan, Owen has authored books and filmed PBS documentaries reaching out to seniors and counseling them that, though you can’t avoid growing older, you can remain mentally young.
The best-selling author behind “Cowboy Ethics,” Owen realized in his early 70s that the road ahead was shorter than the road behind. Which led him to embark on a journey to get into the best shape of his life so he could spend his remaining years with his wife of 50-plus years.
The Kentucky-born octogenarian noted he has had an epiphany of sorts since his business career in the financial investment world, which made him materially wealthy. “There was a lot of luck in my background managing money for a fee,” he noted adding, “I was in the right place at the right time catching a bull market with a tailwind behind me that started in 1982 and ran for 18 years. I caught a big wave.”
Noting he’s a person who has “words that he lives by,” Owen disclosed what those words are. “One of my favorites is, ‘There’s a very thin line between success and failure.’ And because of that, you better always give it 110% (effort). That’s what separates you from other people.”
Owen’s first two inspirational post-career moments came with his book “Just Move!: A New Approach to Fitness After 50”, and with the documentary “The Art of Aging Well,” which premiered on more than 20 PBS stations in 2020. Afterward, he quickly became a sought-after speaker and interview guest sharing his message that it is never too late to improve your health and live your best life.
As we head into 2024, Owen continues to inspire others with his latest film, a 30-minute documentary titled “SuperAgers: Getting Old and Living Young.”
Asked what the key is to living younger, Owens noted, after hitting the lecture circuit and turning age 70, that he was overweight and “had no energy. I was a mess physically.” That’s when he learned of statistics which showed, if you make it to 70, that most people have 15 more years to live. That thought, he acknowledged, was “life-changing” causing him to have only one goal, “to be 80 years young” saying to himself, “I’m disciplined and I’m going to do it.”
So Owen lost 35 pounds and I kept it off. “I couldn’t do one push-up at 75,” he admitted. “I now can do 50, and my energy is back.”
Living younger has a lot to do with turning the clock back in your head, said Owen. “Some think of old age as, ‘Oh my God, my life is over,’” Owen said asking, “What kind of life is that?”
That thought led Owen to write his book about “super agers” and healthy aging. “I’m now in the inspiration business,” he said. “My job, my passion, is inspiring people to look at themselves, look at the world around them, and say, ‘My best days are not behind me. My best days are ahead.’”
The advice Owen has to offer people about aging well in his books and documentaries is very simple. “Anyone can choose to live a happier, more fulfilling life: It’s a choice,” he said. “I say I’m getting older, but I’m not old. Being in a good place has nothing to do with wealth or social position. I don’t know of anyone who is 80 or older who doesn’t have medical issues. We all have loss, grief, and sadness in life. But there’s a real joy in older people who have a sense of humor, which I call a ‘spark.’
Looking forward, Owen concluded people need to be thinking, “I want to be a better husband/wife, a better father/mother, and a better friend.”
